Redington Chromer and Behemoth Review

Redington's newest entry into the spey game, the Chromer, is a hell of a rod

This fall they gave me the opportunity to give the 13-6 8 weight a go along with the Behemoth as we spent our days on the Clearwater in search of early season steelhead.

First Impressions

The mid level price point of $399.99 is a nice way to get people into 2 handed casting without spending mortgage type money on a stick.  You can find some cheaper, but you can find dozens that close in on the $1000 mark or more.   So the price point is great, A+

Aesthetically,  the matt black finish looks great and the components all come together nicely for a great looking rod.  The biggest difference is this....polymer top and bottom grip points.

Traditionalists probably scoff, but I found that these touch points were really nice in hand and in running line management.

With regards to the Behemoth, again the price point of $109.99 you're not going to find many large arbor reels to match with a spey rod that can beat this reel.  The die-cast construction, the lock down drag (if necessary), and other features are exceptional on a reel like this.

On The Water

Paired with the RIO 38 ft Scandi Shooting Head, the Chromer was an all out pleasure to cast.  Each person is going to have different likes and dislikes in every rod they throw, but the break in time with the Chromer was minimal for me.  Once I found the proper anchor placement with the Scandi head, the rod allowed me to cast and cover wide swaths of the rivers I was fishing.    Back to the price point....it fishes like a $1000 stick if you know what I mean

With regards to the polymer grips and my used of mono running lines, I found them to be a big bonus feature with the Chromer.  Pressing the line into the polymer allowed for far less fouled casts that tend to happen with lines like Amnesia.

The reel did exactly what it needed to do.  I prefer a light to moderate drag setting, and I experienced no backlash or issues like that.  The line pick up of the 10-12 reel I had was very, very quick and allows you to keep solid connection with the fish

Any Negatives?

Completely nitpicking on this, the rod's cork could use a little work.  My particular model was missing a few pieces of cork filler but for the price point, do not expect the most amazing cork in the world.  It's a trade off, I'll take a lower grade handle for the awesome cast-ability of the Chromer any day.

On the Behemoth, there was an issue that I had from time to time.  There is JUST enough room for my running line to get caught outside the spool and thank goodness it never happened while catching a fish.  On those time when it happened, I had to loosen the spool a bit, pull the line over and then retighten it back down.  It's a fairly common problem that I am sure anyone has dealt with from time to time

Unanswered Questions

The only thing for me personally is that I never got the shot to throw the rod with heavy sink tips.  It's rare to find a rod that excels at throwing both scandi and skagit heads but I have a suspicion that the fast action and strong butt section will handle heavy tips like 12 ft of T14 with ease.


Conclusion

This combo of rod, reel and line gets a OH HELL YES rating from me.  There are few entries that can provide this much performance for the price.  I may or may not have shed a tear when I shipped them back to Redington, but that's between me and the UPS driver.